Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Episode 3- Crystal Clear
by Steel Kiba
Summary: Piano and Fortissimo, Rita's newest monsters, assail the citizens of Feron Grove by tuning out their willpower and turning up the volume on their doubts and fears, and not even the Power Rangers are safe. Can our heroes overcome their own selves and uncover a hidden treasure guarded by one of Rita's top generals? Ash, Misty, Brock, Tracey, OC Lia, Rita, King Sphinx, and OC Hayashi!
1. Sun and Moon Saturday

**AUTHOR NOTE- Welcome to another episode of ****_Power Rangers, _****Mighty Morphin fans! Thank you guys so much for your interest, favorites, and reviews. It means a lot!**

**One important note: I'm going to "try something new on" with my MMPR stories that many of you hardcore fans will immediately notice. Some of the names of weapons and items will be changed in the interest of diversity (Using the prefix "Power" for everything gets a little dull, in my opinion, and doesn't highlight the unique nature of the Mighty Morphin series very well.). I hope you enjoy!**

It was another Saturday morning in Feron Grove, which meant the Feron Grove Union was packed with all kinds of kids. Everyone was playing games, exercising, or just hanging out. The workout floor on the far end of the room was going to be packed with different workout classes that day, the first being beginning karate.

"Ichi! Ni! San! Shi!"

Sixteen teenagers clad in white crossover jackets, pants, and belts punched along with the count of the instructor. They repeated this for twenty counts, then moved across the floor executing front and round kick drills to no count.

Lia, clad in a short-sleeved white karate uniform and black-and-red colored belt, was going from student to student, correcting their technique and keeping them going.

"Turn that knee all the way around, Terry. You'll extend your kick further."

"Karen, Snap all the way back after completing the technique. If you leave your leg out, an attacker will trip you."

During the next punching and kicking combination, a double-punching drill followed up by a back leg side kick, she turned her attention to Ash, who was furiously launching his attacks.

"Ash, flow and snap. Don't throw."

The new student looked at his friend and junior instructor with a flushed look on his face, red as the wristbands he wore. He nodded and breathed out the universal Japanese acknowledgement "Osu," and continued.

When the rounds of combos were finished, Lia stepped to the front of the class to face the sensei.

"Arigato, Sempai Lia," the sensei said, thanking to the senior student.

"Osu, Sensei Hayashi," Lia responded, deferring to the leader of the class and standing to the side.

Hayashi stepped forward to take control of the class again. The young man looked to be a little older than Lia, but looked identical facially and had a determined yet calm look on his face, only slightly obscured by strands of long flaxen hair that fell over his headband and a little above his collar. He wore the same uniform as Lia, except he had a black belt with two gold bars on the right side, signifying him as a second degree black belt.

Off near the dining portion of the Union, Brock kept a close eye on what was happening in the class, diverting his attention away from his animal anatomy and physiology homework. At the same time, Misty walked up from the cycling area, having just completed an hour on the exercise bike.

"How's it going out there?" the girl asked, wiping beads of sweat from her brow. Perspiration dripped from her flaming hair and on to her yellow workout shirt.

"Pretty good," Brock responded, running his hand through his tall, bushy black hair. "Looks like Ash has really taken to karate in the past couple of weeks. Very strong."

"I'm just glad he's got Lia and Hayashi as teachers," Misty added, sitting down at the table. "They're awesome at running the classes."

"And that brother-sister team dynamic only helps keep everything together," Brock said, turning the page of a veterinary book to a chapter on treating wounds. He recoiled when he came across a particularly nasty-looking injury. "Ugh!" he uttered, turning the page again.

"Something wrong?" Misty questioned.

"Ah, it's this chapter on injuries. I can't stand to see animals hurt like this."

Minutes passed as the kata portion of the class took place, with everybody practicing Heian Shodan, the first of five "Peaceful Way" forms. After going through it on no count, Hayashi broke it down by count, adjusting hammer fist levels to face level and blocks to one fist-length away. He came upon Ash during a punch sequence, who threw them so hard his shoulders wouldn't be in line.

"No, Ash," Hayashi warned, holding the boy's shoulders down and moving them in line. "Everything should be level. Relax and snap, don't throw."

Toward the end of the class, Hayashi lined everyone up to address the class.

"You all have been improving and are putting forth great effort," he began, folding his arms in front of his belt. "But there is so much more for you to learn and tighten up on, even at this level. Karate is a defensive art meant to enhance your body, mind, and soul, and to protect you in the most dire of situations. But remember, you must be relaxed and in the moment to achieve the full effects. Breathe, extend all the way, and bring balance to yourself."

Hayashi finished and bowed the students out, who left the floor sweaty, a little fatigued, and even more invigorated then when they came in.

Far away on the cold, gray moon, Rita Repulsa and her court of minions congregated in the sharp, iron-wrought Moon Palace.

"Those last two monsters were utter failures!" Rita's main henchman Goldar snarled, tightening his gilded, beastly fists. "It is time that I go down there and rip those Power Rangers limb from limb!"

"You tell 'em, Goldar!" Squatt squealed, a demonic grin crossing his fat berry-blue face.

"But Goldar," Baboo interrupted. "these ambushes haven't been working! You'll just get blown up…" the bat-like creature cowered as the winged griffin-ape hybrid struck him across the face.

"Baboo is right, you golden nimrod!" Rita screeched, pacing across the floor of her balcony. "If physical threats don't get those Earthlings to surrender, perhaps we can bring them into submission another way."

"But they clearly fear us, Empress! We can crush them!" Goldar protested.

"That's it!" Rita shouted. "Finster, did you hear that?"

"Yes, your Evil One," Finster said, scuttling up to her. "We need a soldier that can amplify the fears of everyone it comes across."

"I want it to literally turn up the voices of fear in their minds," Rita ordered. "Can you do that?"

"Even better, my queen," Finster assured. "Not only can I bring forth a monster that does just that, I can create a twin that literally deafens the innate self-confidence and reason within humans."

"Then what are you waiting for?!" the evil queen asked. "Get to work!"

_BANG!_

A large plume of smoke flowed from the end of Finster's Monstermatic yet again, and this time two creatures came down from the machine. The aliens were slender, their skin as white as alabaster, and had long, straight hair running down the back of the formal choral dresses they wore, one midnight blue and the other the color of dark dried blood. Their hair was colored the same as their respective dresses, as were their lips, which couldn't conceal the large fangs in their mouths.

"Empress," Finster began as Rita looked on. "I present to you Piano and Fortissimo."

"So hideously beautiful, the both of you!" Rita said with glee.

"Thank you, your highness," Piano, the demon in blue, whispered.

"We look forward to bringing the people of Earth to your rule!" Fortissimo screeched, saliva flying from her maw.

"Finster and I have worked for weeks on these monsters," Baboo reported, raising his four hands. "In addition to their destructive musical acumen, I have helped bolster their durability in battle. Not even the Rangers' Tower Formation can bring them down!"

"Correct," Finster said.

"Very well," Rita said with satisfaction in her voice. "Piano, Fortissimo, turn up the volume on those humans' fears, including those pathetic Power Rangers! Show them no mercy and bring them to their knees!"

"Let the concert commence!" both creations sang, and with that, they vanished to make their journey to Feron Grove.

"This is my greatest work yet!" Baboo told Squatt. Finster held his hand to his face.

"So you were useful for once. Big deal!" Goldar cut in, stomping into the monster workshop. "You may be torturing the humans, but I will be bringing them to our Empress!"

"What are you talking about?" Rita asked, growling at her charge.

"I have commissioned one of our top generals, King Sphinx, to ensnare the monsters' victims and hold them as our slaves!" the warrior answered.

"You stupid monkey! " Rita yelled, getting right in his face. Her anger made the other three cohorts huddle in a corner. "King Sphinx is supposed to be guarding the hidden treasure!"

"Ah, but he is!" Goldar said. "King Sphinx will be bringing them to the hidden treasure chamber, where his guardian spell is so powerful not even that fool Zordon can penetrate it! And with his Power Rangers succumbing to their own fears, there's no chance of ever breaking in!"

The gilded one and his queen, along with the other three lackeys, burst out with venomous laughs, confident that their plan could not fail.


	2. Sounds Good, Sounds Bad

After changing, Ash trudged up to his friends at the dining area, sat down, and struck his head against the table.

"Hey hey hey," Misty said. "You're not that hardheaded. Don't hurt yourself."

"Yeah," Brock said. "What's up?"

Ash sighed and took a big drink from his water bottle. His face was beet red. "I'm just not getting it. No matter what I try, I'm just not getting it."

"You're just starting out, though," Brock assured him, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Brock's right," Lia said, coming up from the workout floor. She still wore her karate pants, but had put on a magenta t-shirt and pulled her hair back. Hayashi stood next to her, still in his uniform. "You need to take it easy, man."

"Yeah, buddy," Hayashi explained, coming up next to him. "Power comes with time. Martial arts technique is like water. Fluid, fluid, fluid, then it snaps like a wave, then back to fluid again. You looked too intense out there. There's nothing to be angry or worried about."

Ash sort of laughed and looked at his friends. "I guess."

Hayashi continued. "I was the exact same way when I started karate. Everyone is, and there's still things we don't have right. But I learned to concentrate on being in the moment more and on trying to do things less. I can help you some more with things on Monday, if you'd like."

"Sure man," Ash said. "That'd be great."

"Awesome," Hayashi said, who turned to Lia. "I gotta get going, sis. Catch you later?"

"Sure. See you later," Lia replied as her brother left.

A little while later, the four friends left the Union and headed outside, the sun shining bright and no clouds in sight.

"So where is Tracey, anyway?" Lia asked Misty.

"He said his dad was out for the day, so he'd be able to work on this special project of his that he won't tell me about," Brock answered with a dull tone. "He said it would only take a week for him to finish when he has the lab to himself, but he must have run into some roadblocks."

"I wonder what…" Misty began, but she caught on to Brock's tone and saw him shake his head. "Are you okay, Brock? You don't look good."

"Sorry, Misty…" Brock droned, rubbing his eyes. "It was that chapter on injuries. Well, to be specific, it was about injuries incurred by and signs of animal abuse. I know we've battled our Pokémon and seen plenty of rough stuff, but I just can't stand to see that. I hate that people would intentionally hurt these animals, you know, be cruel."

"It's solid, Brock," Ash said, moving his arms in concentrated motions, much like his martial arts blocks. "We all feel the same way."

"Yeah," Lia said, smiling at her tall friend. "And Ash, what are you doing? You can stop practicing, you know!"

"I'm sorry. I can't help it," Ash said as Misty chuckled, his tone growing concerned. "I'm just really into this right now. And I want to be as ready as I can be when one of Rita's monsters shows up again. There's no way she's going to hurt these people again."

"There's nothing to worry about now," Lia told him as they turned a street corner that headed toward one of the city's shopping centers. "We'll always be ready for that witch, so give it a rest." She turned to Misty and said, "Does he always listen this well?"

"All the time," Misty jested. "But he has a point, Rita has been awfully quiet…Ow!"

Having been looking at Lia, Misty didn't notice the person she just bumped into, who toppled to the ground. It was Tracey, whose hair was frizzy and blue button-up shirt was tinged with burn marks.

"Tracey!" Misty said as the boy quickly got up. "Sorry! You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Better than fine, actually," Tracey said, brushing himself off and taking off his backpack.

"Did you get zapped by an Electabuzz or something?" Lia asked, checking out his hair. "You don't look fine."

Tracey laughed and motioned the four to come along with him near an outside table near one of the stores, out of the way of several people coming and going from place to place. "Well, I got zapped more than a few times," he began, speaking rapidly. "Some wires got crossed, a couple of mini explosions happened, but here they are! And in less than a month!"

He pulled a small pouch from his backpack and opened it for the others to see. Inside were five objects that were shaped like silver wristwatches, except the watch faces had blank faces with a metal grill raised up above them. Two buttons sat to one side of the circular part, and colored lines ran the length of the devices in black, pink, blue, yellow, and red.

"These devices act as two-way communicators that we can use to not only talk to each other, but also contact Zordon and Alpha at the Command Center."

"Now this is awesome!" Brock said as Tracey gave them each a Communicator in their Ranger color.

"Yeah, way to go, Tracey," Misty congratulated, slapping five with him.

"Hey, what does this button do?" Ash asked, going to press the lower one.

"Whoa, don't do that!" Tracey cautioned, grabbing his hand. Ash looked at him with wide eyes. "That's the second thing I was gonna mention… You see, mishaps in the lab at home haven't been the only reason these have been late. I've been trying to connect the energy fields of these Communicators to those at the Command Center so we can teleport there in an emergency."

"Scratch the last thing. _This _is awesome." Brock said.

"Yeah, well I eventually made the connection, but I ended up teleporting five miles away from the Command Center in the canyon. Almost landed on a cactus… Anyway, Zordon and Alpha got me there and said for me to let them help when I finished construction, so…"

"Yeah, good idea," Ash said. "Let's just talk on them right now."

"I'm just so excited that I finally got to show you guys!" Tracey said, acting jittery. "Surprisingly five days without sleep and the electric shocks have got me all hyped up, and I…"

"Am going to have a nice lunch with your friends and then go home for a nap." Lia said, pulling him up by his arm and walking toward a nearby seafood place. The others laughed and went to join them.

In a secluded spot behind one of the buildings, flashes of red and blue light broke the air, and there stood Piano and Fortissimo, peeking behind the corner.

"Did you hear what those brats were talking about?" Fortissimo said, unable to stifle her loud voice.

"Of course, sister dear," Piano spoke, stifling her twin with a hand with ten-inch claws. "Following them was a great idea. Now they're so close to everyone else, crippling them will be a synch."

"Let's waste no time then," Fortissimo said. She opened her cavernous maw and let out a brief shriek that pierced the air. At the same time, Piano sang out a drawn-out "Aaa" sound, like a Madrigal choir girl, but much more somber. The first movement had begun.


	3. Girl Trouble

Sunday morning brought just as much sunshine and warmth as the one prior, and Misty was all ready to get up and rolling. She was in the kitchen of her house with her Aunt Rose, who had lived in the Amalei Region all her life but moved to Feron Grove just three years ago.

"Got everything you need, hon?" Aunt Rose asked as Misty stuffed a container of salad and several nature bars into her backpack and got ready to leave. "You've got quite a day ahead of you with that beach project."

"Sure do, Aunt Rose," her niece replied, zipping up her bag and looking out the kitchen window. Treetops and leaves danced in a light breeze. The weather looked absolutely perfect. "I got enough snacks for the kids." Misty was heading up the planning for a sea life observation outing for the kids at the local elementary school in October, and was going to meet them and the some other high school volunteers at the park to discuss ideas for the trip.

"Alright," Aunt Rose said, giving Misty a hug. "Just be careful out there. The real fall weather hasn't kicked in yet, so there are still wasps and some Beedrill out there."

"Ooh…Don't remind me," Misty said, shuddering a bit. "Have a great day!"

Misty stepped out of her house and started off down the sidewalk, smiling as she passed under the tops of tall, leafy trees.

_"This day just looks gorgeous!" _the girl thought to herself. Not even the sight of bugs could chip away at such a promising day. Besides, with all the time she had spent getting up close and personal with bug Pokémon, that little fear was tempered so far down…

As Misty crossed the street and walked next to another row of trees, she heard a buzzing sound grow with each step. She looked up and saw a multitude of wasps floating around one of the branches, presumably at their hive. Misty let out a scream and darted down the walkway past a row of houses. She rounded a street corner that would lead her to the park, which also featured a pathway strewn with foliage.

_"Bugs, Bugs, BUGS!" _The words kept repeating over and over in her head. She shook her head and took a deep breath. "Okay, come on, girl," Misty said. "They're just bugs."

_"Bugs… Nasty, buzzing, stinging bugs!"_

Try as she might to calm down, the voice in Misty's head wouldn't leave, and she bolted yet again as she came across another group of wasps flying around a high tree branch. She finally came to the edge of the park, where a couple of the volunteers and some kids from the elementary school were watching her.

"You okay, Misty?" a sandy-haired teenager asked.

"Yeah, those wasps aren't gonna bother you," a little girl with pigtails added. "They're just up in those trees.

"Yeah, I know. Don't know what's up with me…" Misty groaned, shuffling her feet.

_"Sure you don't…" _the voice in her head said again. _"You'll know when all those insects swarm you and leave their stingers all in your back…"_

"Speaking of buzzing bugs," one of the kids said, pointing to the sky. "Look! There's some Beedrill!"

Everyone looked up and saw a swarm of the huge bug Pokémon flying low, their twin stingers glinting in the sunlight. Everyone was too invested in watching them fly to see Misty take off behind a nearby tree, lightly whimpering and holding her head.

Over at the Feran house, Lia was hunched over a table in the family library, a good-sized room with comfortable armchairs, large wooden desks, and plenty of books about everything from local history to complicated sciences to ancient legends.

Hayashi walked in to see his sister poring over the contents of a huge leather-bound book.

"Hard at work?" Hayashi asked, placing a music book he had just finished reading back on the shelf. "You've been in here since sunrise."

"Sure am," Lia said, rubbing her eyes. "Just getting some work done."

Her older brother peeked over her shoulder and said, "I didn't know _Amalei's Hidden Treasures _was required reading."

Lia laughed slightly. "It's not work if it's one of your favorites."

"Yeah," Hayashi responded, shrugging. "Anyway, Mom says lunch is ready, so come on down."

"Be right there in a few," Lia told him. As her brother went to go downstairs, Lia turned her attention back to the book. Although the tome detailed several great archaeological discoveries throughout the years, and Lia had enjoyed reading about them many times, she had only now come across a peculiar story about a secret in the outskirts of the city.

"Legend has it that a treasure trove of lustrous crystals are hidden deep in the caverns of the Amalei Region's Feron Grove," Lia read. "However, whispers from voices past say they are guarded by a malevolent curse that will bring death to whoever attempt to find it. Ugh! Nothing!"

Lia struck the desk with her fist. She had found the passage the day before, and even after combing through several other books and searching online, there was nothing about the crystals and supposed curse. She had read so many tales and legends like this ever since she was little, but there was something different about this one. But what was it?

"There's got to be something," Lia whispered. No matter what question came her way, she could always find an answer.

_"Sure you will…" _her inner self said. _"The answer's right here! It's nothing! You will never find the answer! You aren't as smart as you think!"_

Lia slapped her forehead in frustration. Ever since daybreak, the same sounds of doubt kept playing over and over in her mind.

"I'm just tired…" Lia said, getting up to join her family.

_"Tired and stupid… You will fail. You can't do it…"_


	4. Pouring It On

The next day at school, things were going just as bad for Brock and his classmates. In his anatomy and physiology course, the students all had to assemble teams for fetal pig dissection labs at the end of the week. The teens all reluctantly tried to get into groups.

"Alright…" Brock said, shivering as he talked. "So…I'll take over all the data collection for this one. Mike, why don't you do the cutting?"

"Are you kidding?" Mike, a stout teenager with his hair swooped over his eyes asked. "There's no way I'm getting that up close and personal with that thing! Wendy, how about you?"

"Don't even!" the girl snapped, turning and covering her face. "You guys are big and tough. You do it!"

Professor Sanford, who had been going group to group and seeing the same problem, came up and said, "Well, somebody in each group better get to it. You're all going to see a lot worse when you come up on real injuries during treatment, so there's no use getting scared. Brock, you were one of our highest scoring entering students. Why don't you do it?"

"Well…" Brock began, straightening his posture and breathing deep. He tried to tell himself that he could do it, but all he could hear were things like, _"You can't even stand to see the pictures in your book! Imagine the real thing, the lifeless eyes of something killed for experimentation! Real organs now shriveled up and useless, just like you… One sight of blood and you'll break down like the coward you really are."_

Tracey, who had been standing off to the side, stepped up and said, "I can do it, guys. Just leave it to me."

Everyone in the group sighed in relief. For a moment, Tracey turned away and bit his knuckles.

_"What am I getting into?"_

As the school day came to a close, dark, heavy clouds began to creep across the sky above Feron Grove. Miniscule droplets of water grew into fiercely falling rain, followed up by crashes of thunder and flashes of lightning. Droves of people made a break for the Feron Grove Union, jamming themselves past the doors and into the place in bunches and making fearful comments about the weather.

"Did you see that lightning? I almost got fried!"

"It was miles off! Why are you shivering?"

"I just really, _really _hate lightning! And you were screaming when the thunder hit!"

"Oh sure, just…YAH!" Several people ducked and screamed as another thunderclap penetrated the walls of the building.

Unbeknownst to them, the twin beasts Piano and Fortissimo stood outside behind the Union in the pouring rain, the booming of the thunder hiding the former's low howl and the latter's high guttural. As they continued their chorus, they saw a figure approaching from the side, a tall man with light brown skin, dark, short, wavy hair, and clad in a beige business suit.

"About time you showed up," Fortissimo rasped through her fangs. "These townspeople are nearing the breaking point."

"Don't worry yourselves," the man said in a lilting exotic accent. With a chuckle, he went to round the building and go inside.

Darren, who was just coming back from his truck with an armload of supplies, walked over to Brock and Tracey at the nearest table. "You think they'd be okay with a little rain and thunder," he remarked. "We get it all the time around here."

Tracey smiled weakly and shrugged. He turned to Brock and said, "Look, man. I'm glad to help during the experiment, but I'm just not sure how good I'll be with the data."

"You've had several years of experience with Pokémon just like me," Brock said flatly. "What's the matter?"

Tracey grimaced and replied, "Well, ever since the setbacks I had with the Wrist Communicators, I'm just afraid I'll mess up something important again. What if I slice something wrong or the scalpel slides and cuts somebody. I could tear that specimen's face…"

"Stop, stop!" Brock nearly shouted, putting his hand up. "That's just too much…"

"Sorry," his friend said, going back to his constantly loud thoughts. _"One wrong move and it's over… You can't ever be too precise with something, and you never will be…"_

Just then, Lia and Misty came up to the table, and Lia threw her copy of _Amalei's Hidden Treasures _on its surface. "I don't know what to do anymore!" she said haggardly, slumping down in a chair.

"That same mystery, huh?" Brock quipped, glancing over at the fitness area. A stressed-out looking Ash was going through self-defense three-step drills with Hayashi. He could hear their limbs striking against each other even from the other side of the building.

"Use your hips!" Hayashi instructed. "Power comes from there! All arms means all strain!"

"I've tried helping her find some information about it," Misty said, joining them. "But there's little to nothing about the legend in the library."

"I found some loose clues," Lia said, reaching into her bag for some printouts, one containing a grainy picture of a figure in ancient Egyptian garb. "One of the older local history books said that an unnamed Egyptian emissary came to the Amalei Region over 5,000 years ago. It says he was one of their greatest wise men, but as soon as he came to this island, they could feel a strange presence and lots of people went missing. And that's about all I've found right now."

Tracey looked at the photo, squinting his eyes to make out the image of the man, but nothing was clear. "So that's all, huh? Typical of these kinds of stories."

"I know," Lia responded. "I'm about to just give up. This is bugging me too much."

"Don't even say _that _word!" Misty cried, shuddering as Lia looked at her in surprise.

"Ayah-sa!" Ash's voice rang out from the other side of the Union, as well as the sound of a well-timed hard fist against a solid surface. Hayashi held his throbbing arm after Ash deflected a punch with a hard rising block and nearly floored him with a counter punch.

"Ash, your power, your power!" he yelled. "Too much!" Ever since they began their drills, his student had been going full force with stiff blows and blocks.

"I'm sorry. I really am!" Ash called back, breathing heavily and rolling his sore shoulders back. "I'm just not thinking straight."

_"Protect yourself! Protect the others! Protect everyone! No power means no protection! You'll all be vulnerable if you hold back!"_

"Well, you need to take some time to collect yourself," Hayashi said more calmly, gesturing toward Ash. "You're red from head to toe and you're going to hurt yourself way more than you hurt me. Take five and come on back."

The weary student went up to his friends at the table and sighed deeply.

"This just isn't your day, is it?" Lia asked.

"I really am trying," Ash said, shaking his head. "I try to clear my mind, but all I can think about is how I'll let everyone down if I don't give everything I have… It just keeps going on and on and it's like someone yelling at me."

"Join the club," Brock said glumly. At that moment, the five friends looked at one another, suddenly realizing they were all going through the same thing.

"Of course..." Misty said.

Before she could continue, a high-pitched, six-tone beep rang out from Ash's Communicator, which he had tucked under his wristband. The five looked at each other again and got up to go inside a corner of the Union's entryway. On their way, they bumped into a professional-looking man talking softly to a group of worried-looking teenagers. Before they could apologize, he smiled and waved them off, so the group went on its way to the entryway. When the coast was clear, Ash pressed the call button on his device and said, "Zordon, we read you."

"Power Rangers," the voice of their leader began. "We have detected a dangerous presence in the city. Prepare yourselves for teleportation to the Command Center at once."

"Right," Ash answered, disconnecting from the transmission. The five nodded in unison and in the same second, they materialized into bright light that shot upward, heading straight for the Command Center.


	5. Live in the Park

After a seconds-long flight over the city, the Power Rangers shot through the entrance of their Command Center and landed on the smooth purple floor beneath them. As usual, Alpha 5 was hurriedly manning the various computer terminals.

"Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi!" the robot shrieked, red lights bouncing to and fro on his vision visor.

"What's going on, Zordon?" Brock questioned, stepping to the front of the group.

"What's _not _going on?" Lia droned, holding her head.

"Rangers," Zordon began. "Alpha and I have been tracking strange energy activity in Feron Grove over the past few days, leading us to Rita's latest dual threat, Piano and Fortissimo."

"Piano and Fortissimo? Two monsters?" Tracey exhaled.

"Behold the Viewing Globe," their sage commanded.

The teenagers turned to survey the images on the brightly lit Viewing Globe, which showed the creatures singing out their assault.

"I don't need to see any more," Ash growled, slamming his fist into his palm. "Just give me their coordinates and I'll take them down!"

"That won't work," Tracey interrupted. "We have to sit down and really plan for these two! One wrong move will spell disaster!"

"Well we can't just stay here while people suffer!" Brock yelled at both of them.

"Power Rangers," Zordon cut in with his booming voice. "You must remain calm and regain your focus. There is more to be revealed."

"Um… This isn't exactly the easiest time for that..." Misty said, turning away from the monsters' hideous visage.

"I am aware of the fears and doubts you have all been facing as of late," the wizard spoke. This got all five Rangers attention real quick. "There is more to them than you think."

_"Sure, all you have to do is break past it…" _a voice rang out in all of their minds. _"But you can't do that, can you?"_

"Yes, you can," Zordon said, making the humans gasp a little. "This mind manipulation is all a manifestation of Piano and Fortissimo's abilities, physically draining your self-confidence and amplifying the perception of your fears and doubts."

"Fits their names to a T," Lia remarked. "So all we have to do is blast them and their spell will be gone, right?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Lia," Zordon explained. "These two beings are much stronger than Adder or Shrapnelhead."

"Piano and Fortissimo were specially crafted to be light and extremely durable," Alpha exposited, coming up to the group. "Thanks to a mix of space clay, metallic alloy, and Rita's magic, regular attacks and laser fire cannot destroy them."

"So what can we do? What, should we just mash them with the Dinozords?" Misty posed, her tone going from anxious to annoyed at the improbable situation.

"No, Misty," Zordon replied. "There is another way. It is time I reveal to you the secrets of your arsenal!"

Alpha pressed a series of buttons on a terminal, and Zordon closed his eyes and focused his energy toward the Rangers. Colored static crackled in front of the teenagers, and they instinctively raised their open hands to receive what materialized into five different weapons, a black and yellow axe, a pair of yellow and silver daggers, a blue and silver double-sided trident, a pink and white bow, and a long red sword. Each item featured an image of each Ranger's respective Power Coin. Each Ranger looked at his or her weapon with wide and appreciative eyes.

"These are your Power Weapons, physical embodiments of justice and armaments possessing great strength, precision, agility, and range, just like you," Zordon said. "When the situation calls for it, the Mammoth Axe, Tiger Daggers, Tricera Lance, Ptera Bow, and Tyranno Sword can be combined to form a mighty superweapon that can fell very strong evil."

"This is just amazing!" Tracey piped up, turning the Tricera Lance over in his hands.

"You can say that again!" Ash yelled, going to thrust his sword upward. "I can't wait to…Huh?" As he tried to move his weapon, his arm froze up. "Hey! I can't move it!"

"What's wrong?" Lia asked.

"The Power Weapons are not merely tools," Zordon said. "To wield them, you must be immersed in a state of focus, unclouded by fear or doubt. To be one with your weapon, you must be one with your purpose."

"But how do we do that?" Lia said, her inner voice telling her to give up yet again since she didn't already have the answer.

"I cannot answer that," Zordon explained. "You must find a way push past your individual fears and fight on regardless of the monsters' influence."

With his words, the weapons dematerialized into thin air, leaving the group to try to collect their thoughts. But before they could do so, the emergency siren blared throughout the Command Center.

"Oh no!" Alpha cried, reading the computer's data. "Piano and Fortissimo have revealed themselves to citizens in the park!"

"But we aren't ready to take them on yet!" Tracey shouted. "We can't move these weapons!"

"What else can we do? Those people need us!" Brock said, trying to clear his head of any gruesome images his inner self brought up.

"He's right," Misty said, trembling a bit. "They're way more scared than we are. We have to try."

"We can do it," Ash said, nervously giving everyone a thumbs up and psyching himself up again. The others nervously fidgeted but drew their Power Morphers along with him, raising them up high and yelling, "It's Morphin Time!"

"Mastodon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-Toothed Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

The rainstorm was still going strong, water falling down to Feron Grove in sheets. Passersby trying to evade the downpour now found themselves cornered by Piano, Fortissimo, and several Putty Patrollers. Their screams did nothing to drown out the sounds coming from the jowls of the dual demons, making the people cower and kneel in the soaked grass and pavement.

"Surrender to us and we will not take your lives," Piano said with a serene voice. "But that doesn't mean you won't stop enjoying our song while working for Empress Rita!"

The citizens were on the verge of giving in to the creatures' demand when five beams touched down around the crowd, revealing themselves to be the Power Rangers, their multicolored protective suits and helmets appearing to gleam even in the murky gloom. The heroes leapt into the air, flipped forward, and knocked away the foot soldiers with diving kicks.

"Go on and get out of here!" Black Ranger ordered as the enemies regrouped. "We've got this!"

"Come on, this way!" a man in the crowd yelled. As the people shook off the voices in their heads and retreated, the Power Rangers provided cover, striking down the battle-ready Putties. As Lia blocked the slice of one goon's rough-hewn arm, which was shaped like a blade, she momentarily noticed that the man rallying the people to run looked familiar, kind of like the one they ran into at the Union.

As the five handled their attackers with fast kicks, elbows, and punches, Piano and Fortissimo stood their ground as the fight quickly ended. The Red Ranger drew his Blade Blaster and rushed the two, slicing at their bodies. The beasts blocked each blow, and when Ash landed a cut here or there, he didn't even leave a scratch. Piano swiped Red Ranger aside with her claws, and then the Blue and Yellow Rangers sped toward the sisters, trying to take them down with sweeps and crescent kicks, but they were clawed down as well. Pink Ranger threw a knifehand strike at Fortissimo, but the creature caught her arm and sank her teeth into it, setting off a shower of sparks.

As Lia screamed, Brock ran to her aid, only to be blocked by Piano. He reached under the blue singer and lifted her with a fireman's carry. With a shout, he tossed her forward to the grass, but Piano nimbly contorted herself and landed on her feet unscathed as Fortissimo dropkicked the Black Ranger down.

"You okay?" Misty said as she and the others helped him up.

"We're so glad you could attend our concert, Power Rangers," Fortissimo said as the fighters got back together in rooted stances. "As you can see, there are no rain delays."

"Can the bad jokes!" Ash yelled, clutching his scratched chest. "We're not going to be afraid of you anymore!"

"The whole city has been succumbing to their fears for days," Piano said, staring a hole into the Power Rangers with her completely white eyes. "And so will you, despite your precious little dinosaur powers." She sang out a low tune as the Rangers charged, stopping them in their tracks.

"What…I can't move…" Tracey uttered, shivering with new trepidation.

"We can't fight like this…" Lia spoke, her arm locked beside her waist, trying in vain to reach her Blade Blaster.

_"You can't. We're too powerful. You can't. We're too powerful." _Now the sounds of the monsters mixed with the Rangers' own repeating voices, pervading their conscious thoughts.

"Oh, we love fan requests!" Fortissimo snarled, breathing out a saliva-tinged scream, and the Power Rangers buckled to their knees, unsure of how to break free from the increasingly horrible noise and their own selves.


	6. Call to Arms

_"You can't. We're too powerful. YOU CAN'T. WE'RE TOO POWERFUL."_

On and on Fortissimo's message played, forcing the Power Rangers into submission. Try as they might to summon the courage to get up and fight, their will was tempered by Piano's power, despite the protective power.

"Just give up!" Fortissimo yelled. "You'll make wonderful soldiers for our queen!"

"I…I…" Lia stammered. She finally clenched her fists and screamed, "No! We'll never give up!"

"You'll have to kill us to make us stop fighting!" Misty shouted, willing her yellow-and-white-clad feet forward. She only trudged a couple of steps before being shot down by a piercing scream from Fortissimo.

"Misty!" Ash roared, dashing toward the monsters in spite of the clamoring voices. He forcefully threw punches, round kicks, and front kicks at the evading targets, who took him down with dual slashes from their claws. The Red Ranger got right back up and, taking a deep breath, suddenly remembered what Hayashi told him.

_"Snap, don't throw. I just have to be in the moment."_

That minuscule moment of clarity was all he needed. Red Ranger ducked another blow from Fortissimo, reared his hips back, and with a battle cry rotated into a powerful punch. The red-clad demoness shrieked and flew to the ground.

Blue Ranger was watching carefully, keeping himself locked on the action despite the mental assault.

"Now it's my turn!" he cried. He bolted across the grass toward Piano, who stood stunned at the sight of her fallen twin. Tracey hopped into the air and crashed into the monster with a heavy front push kick just as she turned around.

"Way to go, guys!" Black Ranger called out as he rallied the Pink and Yellow Rangers forward. As they moved, a deep barking noise pierced the air. Quick as the sound came in, a big golden retriever galloped across the far end of the park, and chasing it was Mike and Wendy, Brock and Tracey's classmates.

"Hey! Help!" the two teenagers yelled. They were still a good distance behind the dog. Fortissimo saw the canine fast approaching, and with a growl, launched three disembodied claws at it.

"No!" Brock shouted, swiftly getting in the way and taking the brunt of the attack himself. "Go get them!" he ordered the girls as they tried to come to his aid. Misty and Lia nodded and went to engage the creatures instead.

"Are you okay, little guy?" Brock asked the dog, cradling it and ignoring the searing pain in his side. The retriever let out a chipper bark as the two humans came near.

_"Almost spilled his guts…You won't be that lucky again."_

"Black Ranger!" Wendy yelled in a teary voice. "Are you hurt? Is Thunder alright?"

"I'll be fine, and so will he," Brock responded, handing them the dog. "What are you doing here? Leave before you get hurt yourselves!"

"Black Ranger's right!" Lia called out, backing Piano up with a pair of spinning elbows. "This is too dangerous!"

"But there's more trouble!" Mike said, petting Thunder, who was still trying to wriggle free and defend its friends. "Another monster just…"

"No backup singers!" Fortissimo cut in, letting out another horrific scream, forcing the humans to back down.

"Go on! Get out now! We'll handle it!" Ash warned the two, who took Thunder and retreated from the battle. After getting a safe distance away, the three ducked behind a wide oak tree, keeping their eyes on the action.

"Let's see how you fare when we lower the mood…" Piano taunted, singing another low Madrigal drone. The Power Rangers were buckling yet again, but only for a few seconds. Each one looked at one another and snapped their heads up in solidarity, stepping up as one.

"What's this? Why do you rise?" Fortissimo questioned, increasing the pitch of her screams.

_"You're too weak…You're too weak…" _a singular voice rang out in the Rangers' minds, but they wouldn't kneel again.

"We broke free once. We can do it again," Red Ranger said.

"There's always a way," Pink Ranger told herself.

"We just have to pick our moment," Blue Ranger added.

"And keep moving even though things look or sound scary," Yellow Ranger proclaimed.

"The pain is all worth it as long as our planet is safe," Black Ranger concluded.

"Please…" Piano said. "Those stupid words won't save you or this miserable place."

"Be in the moment, guys," Ash said calmly. The Power Rangers breathed in and out in unison and raised their hands in the air. Vibrant rays cut through the stormy darkness and formed their weapons. The monsters were mesmerized that their spells weren't having any affect on them, and Mike and Wendy were smiling wide as they watched.

Without warning, the Rangers sprung into action, brandishing their new Power Weapons, the enemies charging as well. Lia struck first, firing a round of arrows from her Ptera Bow at Piano, repulsing her. As Fortissimo tried to close in, Tracey pierced her clay and metal exterior with his Tricera Lance and flipped her over his head. As the louder sister gathered herself and readied her claws once more, Misty leapt in and cut her down with two swipes of her Tiger Daggers. Piano let out an uncharacteristic roar, but before she could move, Brock swung his Mammoth Axe down, slicing her pallor frame and setting off sparks, but she held her ground. This was not for long, as Ash jumped off of Brock's shoulders and dove at her with his Tyranno Sword, finally bringing her down.

"Alright, let's end this!" he cried as they all got together in a unified line.

"Not quite!" Fortissimo grumbled, picking her sister up. "We still have our final movement!"

"We don't think so!" the Yellow Ranger shot back. "You're through."

"Oh, sorry," the alien interjected. "We wouldn't mean to _bug _you, Yellow Ranger!"

A moment later, the sound of the rain seemed to stop as a buzzing noise took over. Out in the distance, a brown mass was flying through the air and to the park—locusts, hundreds of locusts.

"Eyah!" Misty screamed. "No way! How did they do that?"

The bugs came en masse, swarming the Rangers and making them flail about as the twins laughed.

"So there is something more up!" Pink Ranger said, her words obscured by the constant noise.

"There's so many of them!" Misty said, waving her daggers at the pests, but nothing drove them away. Suddenly, she stopped and got in a defensive stance. "No, I'm not going to be afraid!"

"Misty's right!" the Red Ranger bellowed. "It's time to bring our powers together!"

Despite the wall of locusts, the other Rangers rooted themselves in stances as well and prepared for the final strike. Black Ranger slid a portion of his axe forward, toward a ruby red opening that looked like the barrel of a firearm. Pink Ranger locked her bow on top of the axe. Blue Ranger broke his lance into two separate tridents and locked them in with the open bottoms facing outward, Yellow Ranger adding her daggers in this way as well. Red Ranger completed the superweapon, placing his sword on top of the rest.

"Jurassic Cannon!" they shouted in unison, holding up the blaster together.

Piano and Fortissimo would have none of this, and continued their ghastly song, hoping to quell the resistance. It was no use.

"Dino Power! Fire!"

With that cry, red, blue, yellow, pink, and violet energy rocketed from the Jurassic Cannon, swallowing up the duo and leaving nothing but a cascade of dissipating flames.

"Morphin!" the team said, breaking apart the cannon and reassembling their singular weapons. The concert was finally over, but the insect audience was still present.

"Awesome job, team," Ash congratulated.

"Yeah, phenomenal!" Tracey contributed.

"That was awesome!" Brock said. "But where did all of these locusts come from?"

"I think I have an idea," Lia said, but she was cut short by the sounds of human voices. Wendy and Mike came from behind the tree, waving their arms and shouting.


	7. Regroup

The rain had ceased, and everything was becoming clearer, in more ways than one.

"Well this all makes sense now!"

The Pink Ranger couldn't believe how everything was lining up when Mike and Wendy told her and the other Rangers what they encountered before getting to the park. But it made perfect sense.

"This tall guy wearing glasses and brown clothes was gathering people away from the monster attack," Mike said, still holding his dog. "He just kept saying, 'Everything's going to be alright. There's nothing to fear now.'"

"Yeah, but it was a trap!" Wendy added, breathing shakily. "He took them!"

"Calm down," the Blue Ranger said. "We'll take care of it. How did the man take them away?"

"Kind of like you got your weapons," Wendy answered. "He got this weird-looking staff out of nowhere and waved it, and then they were all gone! He can't be human!"

"Yeah," Mike said. "We were across the street, and that's when we ran to get you. We could hear him just laughing…"

"I knew there was something to this," Lia piped up. "We've got to tell Zordon."

"Absolutely," the Red Ranger concurred, raising his left arm to his face. "Zordon, this is the Red Ranger. There's another emergency!"

"I am aware, Red Ranger," Zordon's voice replied. "Report to the Command Center immediately."

"Thank you for your help," Ash said to the civilians. "But we have to take care of this now. Go home where it's safe."

"And I really gotta thank you," the Black Ranger said, clapping both of them on the shoulder and petting Thunder. "Seeing you guys really helped me cut through what I was afraid of."

Mike and Wendy smiled and nodded toward the Power Rangers, who put their hands around their Power Morphers and shot up into the sky. As soon as they did, the army of locusts changed course and headed straight for the city.

When the heroes arrived back at their base, there was no time to bask in their victory.

"I must commend you on your latest effort, Power Rangers," Zordon said. "You conquered your fears and doubts as well as the evil at hand, and you took a large step in becoming one with your powers. But I am afraid there is another great threat still at large."

"That's right," Misty said, her and the others having taken off their dinosaur-themed helmets for the time being. "Those kids told us some being has been kidnapping people all over town."

"They are correct," the sage spoke. "Rita has commissioned King Sphinx, one of her top alien generals, to capture and enslave the people of Feron Grove."

"That's awful!" Brock exclaimed.

"Where is he taking them?" Tracey questioned.

"All of our scanners point to the King Sphinx taking his victims to a cave system several miles from the Command Center," Alpha said. "Though thankfully we can report that the human life energy readings are all nominal, we cannot pinpoint their exact location in the system."

"The cave…That's it!" Lia exclaimed. The others turned and raised their eyebrows at her. "This has to be connected with the crystal legend we've read about!"

"Are you sure?" Misty asked. "It seems like it fits, but…"

"Your research and suspicions are well-founded, Lia," Zordon interrupted. "As I feared, King Sphinx is indeed guarding the Dino Crystals."

"Dino Crystals? What are they, and why does he have them?" Ash asked.

"The Dino Crystals are yet another essence of your powers," the wizard began. "They are from the very heart of the Morphing Grid and possess otherworldly qualities, allowing you to amplify your Ranger powers and the might of your Dinozords. I hid them away before I was imprisoned, but it seems that with Rita's return, King Sphinx's dormant guardian spell has been rejuvenated and prevents us from obtaining them here. You must engage him in order to break his barrier magic."

"You can count on us, Zordon," Ash said. "We'll save the prisoners and get the Dino Crystals back."

Miles away, in a huge cave teeming with rocky pitfalls, stalactites, and stalagmites, a flash of orange light pierced the darkness and revealed a group of screaming, teary-eyed children. By their side stood the tall man in brown, who with a wave of a question mark-shaped staff, rendered the kids, as well as the multitude of other captives behind them, completely silent and dead-eyed.

Goldar and a squad of Putties stood off to the side of the masses, swinging his jagged sword in the air.

"Good thing you shut these people up," he growled to the man. "I was getting so sick of their whining I could just…"

"There's no need for decapitations, old friend," the man assured Rita's right-hand monster, stepping beside him. "Besides, there's nothing more they can do until the empress commands them. Well, two of them did manage to run away."

"You fool!" Goldar snapped. "Those lucky Power Pukes will surely be on to our plan now!"

"Then you'll get just what you've been waiting for," the man replied, his smooth voice now turning high-pitched and a little manic. "a rematch to the death. I may have been dormant for thousands of years, but I know Zordon's puny army has no chance against what we have…"


	8. Fork in the Road

Despite the helmet cooling units that were meant to keep the Power Rangers from suffocating or passing out in the heat of battle, each hero's face was drenched as they ran toward King Sphinx's cavern.

"Not much longer now!" Tracey huffed as the group sprinted across the desert. The general's magic had spread to the Command Center, impeding the teleportation system and forcing the Rangers to take to the ground.

"Two miles and counting!" Brock announced, his HUD showing the remaining distance. Suddenly, his counter's image began to scramble and fade, along with the life energy readings and power suit shield readings.

"Hey! My HUD's bugging out!" he shouted.

"Mine too!" Lia concurred. "Must be the spell!"

"Then we need to be extra careful and keep our eyes peeled!" Ash ordered. All of the displays had been disabled at that point, leaving only a clear picture of the barren land through each Ranger's visor. The shrouded sun was sinking below the horizon.

Within a few moments, they reached the cavern and continued their trek inside, squeezing past narrow heaps of rocks and trudging a down diagonal embankment of sand and stone. The Rangers then came to a section of the cave with five forked-off tunnels. Each one's spine tingled even more, their skin now peppered with goosebumps.

"You feel that?" Misty asked everyone, breathing in deep.

"How can you not?" Tracey said. "Everyone check your Communicators."

Everything was nominal, so Ash said, "Right, call immediately if there is any trouble."

Silently, the Power Rangers each took one path for their own, treading quickly but cautiously in the darkness.

King Sphinx, still in his human form and with Goldar and the captives, closed his eyes and said, "Here they come."

Goldar chuckled and started off toward one of five openings near the chamber, his detachment of Putty Patrollers splitting up into three others.

King Sphinx smiled and turned toward the prisoners, spinning his staff and breaking his silence curse.

"You all stay put," the being said in his high-pitched voice, twisting his weapon again. "and in the meantime you can all provide us with some nice background music."

As soon as he stepped away to another tunnel, the screaming began.

That screaming pierced the thick cavern walls and urged the Power Rangers on to quicken their pace on their respective paths. As the Yellow Ranger surged forward, squinting in the darkness, she slipped down an unseen vertical drop, barely catching her footing at the end. As she recovered to keep going, a familiar buzzing filled the air as more of the monster's locusts pervaded the tunnel.

Misty fought the urge to scream, instead drawing her Blade Blaster and firing a yellow beam that forced through the mass of vermin to disperse.

"You'll have to do better than that," Yellow Ranger said as she kept going, firing round upon round to clear the path. Within seconds, she heard another familiar sound-the rabble of Rita's gray goons.

In their tunnels, the Blue and Black Rangers were already tangling with the Putties, clashing axe and lance with space clay-infused blades. The Putties were piling on their assault on Tracey and Brock despite a good chunk of them falling to their Power Weapons. Blue Ranger doubled back and spied upon a stone in the middle of his path. He then charged, spiking his Tricera Lance in the rock, vaulting over several Putties and crashing into a few unlucky ones.

"Glad I stuck that landing," Tracey said to himself as he ran on.

With no way to vault over his foes, Brock hunched up on his Mammoth Axe and torqued himself back.

"Alright, claybrains," Black Ranger spoke. "Time for my Hurricane Tackle!" With great speed, he spun past the Putties, cutting them down with the tough blade of his axe.

On his journey, the Red Ranger had to duck many low-hanging stalactites and leap over several boulders. When he came to a more open portion of the cave, where the screams only got louder, a pair of fiery-red eyes impaled his gaze.

"This is where it ends, Red Ranger!" Goldar snarled, drawing his gilded blade.

"Bring it on, Goldar!" Ash retorted, summoning his Tyranno Sword from the Morphing Grid. Both warriors slashed, blocked, and kicked at one another, the hero initially getting to the villain with his speed and reliance on new technique. As the Ranger went for another cut, Goldar gripped his sword arm, drew him in, and swiped his blade across his chest. Ash yelled in pain and fell to the ground, but as he tried to recover, the creature deftly kicked the Tyranno Sword from his hand.

"Such a pitiful effort..." Goldar said, putting his foot on Ash's chest and raising his sword for a final blow. "You will pay for insulting me!"

"Sorry. This better?" Red Ranger shot back, grabbing his Blade Blaster and shooting several rays right at the hybrid's face, knocking him back. With a war cry, he recovered his Power Weapon and went to fight again.

In the final tunnel, Lia found her trek to be unnervingly easy, with no obstacles in her way. As she ran what appeared to be the final shot into the main chamber, the mysterious man instantly appeared before her, staff in hand.

"Are you lost, Pink Ranger?" he asked in an amiable tone. "I can certainly help you."

The heroine dug her boots into the ground, her muscles tense. "You're him," she whispered.

"Yes," the interloper said, stepping forward. "I can help you,"

Lia drew her sidearm and flicked the blade up. "Get out of my way, King Sphinx!" she shouted.

"Ooh, such a bright young thing," the disguised evil one chortled, his voice shifting from soothing to spine chilling. "And what a lovely picture of youth! Want to see what I look like?"

With a toothy grin, the man took on a light blue color, every muscle bulging as his human frame disappeared. What emerged was the true King Sphinx, a hulking menace with lion-like features and claws, a yellow and black Egyptian headdress, and a drooping, ornate loincloth where his pants once were.

Lia tried to attack the monster, but her Blade Blaster was flipped away by his staff. A heavy paw took her down, and King Sphinx kept walking away, laughing.

"Get back here!" Pink Ranger commanded, drawing her Ptera Bow. "You will set those people free!"

King Sphinx turned around and deflected a series of arrows hurtling at him. Raising his weapon, he cast several firebolts at Lia, sending her down again. And again, he kept walking away.

"There's no need to fight," he assured her. "As a matter of fact, you can all get to those people right now. In a few moments, this cavern will be filled to the brim with sand, so make the most of your time together!" And with that, the beast vanished.

True to King Sphinx's word, Lia could hear something rushing in the distance. She could even feel the silt below her starting to move.

"Rangers!" she yelled, activating her Communicator. "Rangers! Come in!" Nothing could be heard except an error beep from the device, and the arrival of the oncoming sand.


	9. Discovery

"Hey guys! We gotta move! Now! Now!"

Lia shouted as loud as she could, trying to warn the other Power Rangers of King Sphinx's newest offensive. She ran as fast as she could through the rest of the tunnel, eventually happening upon the main chamber. By now, now only could she see Misty taking down more Putties with her Tiger Daggers, as well as the screaming, immobile prisoners, she could see the sand slowly eclipsing the tops of her feet.

Lia spin-crescent kicked one Putty Patroller out of the way and got back to back with her teammate.

"King Sphinx just cast a curse on the sand," the Pink Ranger began. "The..."

"Place is filling up. I know, Lia. But I can't call the others." the Yellow Ranger said. She slashed one goon out of the way and trapped another one's arm with her daggers and threw it to the ground. "I hope the guys get here soon!"

"The sand! It's up to my neck!" one of the captives screamed, joining the others trying to push past the invisible barrier.

"I can't breathe!" a little boy cried, rocking back and forth and sobbing. The sand was inching above their ankles, but they weren't suffocating yet.

Just then, Tracey and Brock came through the other side at the same time, forcing foot soldiers back with kicks and punches.

"Why are they just standing there?" Black Ranger asked. "We have to get them out of here now!" He tried to grab a couple of people, but he was blocked by King Sphinx's wall.

"Let me try!" Blue Ranger shouted, slicing at the barrier with his lance only to have it recoil. "The spell's too strong!"

As they spoke, and sand crept up their legs, Ash and Goldar came out of their passageway, tumbling over a slump of silt and sediments. Goldar lunged at the Red Ranger, but the Ranger swiveled his hips back to avoid the blow, using proper karate technique to levy several punches to his brawny chest.

"Good, you're all okay," Ash breathed. "I guess things are worse than dealing with apeface."

Goldar staggered up and threw flames from his sword, blasting his enemies to the ground and covering them in sand.

"They certainly are, Ranger!" the beast rasped through his putrid fangs. "Have fun drowning!" As he spoke, he turned into a flash of fire and left everyone's sight.

"Help! Help!" the townspeople's pleas got louder and shakier as the sand came above their waists.

"How are we gonna get them out in time?" Ash wondered, striking the barrier. "Our teleportation is disabled!"

"And we can't call Zordon!" Brock added, his breathing quickening in panic.

"If only we could find those Dino Crystals..." Lia said. "They must be able to help."

Suddenly, each Ranger's Power Coin glowed brightly in the gloomy cavern, shining beams at the wall behind the prisoners. At the same time, each of their Power Weapons shone in their respective colors.

"I guess I spoke just in time!" Lia remarked. By then, the sand had reached everyone's chest.

"Quick, put your weapons together!" Ash yelled. Each Ranger put the point of their armaments together, which produced a golden bolt of lightning that shot throwing the magic barrier and blew apart the wall. Instantaneously, five pointed objects flew toward each hero, landing in their right hands.

"The Dino Crystals!" Tracey exclaimed. "We finally got 'em!"

The Power Rangers raised the crystals high, and with a flash of rainbow light, everyone vanished from the cave just as the sand began to reach above their heads.

Rita, not seeing the Rangers rescue her hostages, laughed and congratulated King Sphinx from on high at her palace.

"A wonderful job as usual, my servant!" she screeched. "Now grow and continue your work!"

The witch hurled her wand to the Earth, and within seconds, it pierced the desert ground, released torrents of ethereal steam, and enlarged the monster by several stories. King Sphinx giggled hysterically as he flexed and forced a pair of wings to erupt from his back. He took to the air, high above the mountaintops, and leisurely glided in the direction of the Feron Grove city.

A little ways away from King Sphinx, the Power Rangers appeared, landing gently on the surface.

"Now that's what I call power!" Lia said, marveling at the crystal in her hand. Each Dino Crystal glimmered in the moonlight, radiating either black, pink, blue, yellow, and red and featuring an image of their distinct dinosaur.

"And we couldn't have gotten these without your hard work," Brock said, giving her a thumbs up.

"You got that right, but where are the people?" Tracey questioned.

"Power Rangers, come in!" a squeaky voice cut in. Ash raised his Communicator up. "Alpha," he said. "Is that you?"

"Yes," Alpha answered. "Our communications system is barely online, but I can tell you that the captives are safe and King Sphinx's mind manipulation spell has faded from their minds for now! But you must confront him in the canyon at once!"

"That must be why they thought they were suffocating so early on," Misty realized. "We're on it, Alpha!"

The Power Rangers looked to the sky, seeing the monster flying toward the city.

"We need Dinozord Power now!" they roared, raising the crystals to the heavens.

The five didn't have to wait long for help to arrive. The Tyrannosaurus, Mastodon, Triceratops, Saber-Toothed Tiger, and Pterodactyl Dinozords came dashing and flying from their hiding places and toward the battlefield, and the Power Rangers hopped into their cockpits.

"Tyrannosaurus, ready to go!"

"Mastodon, stompin' away!"

"Triceratops, armed and rolling!"

"Saber-Toothed Tiger, on the prowl!"

"Pterodactyl, flying high!"

"Rangers, engage your crystals!" Red Ranger called out. After pressing two buttons to fully activate the manual controls, he placed his Dino Crystal into an open deck, turning it into a control stick.

"Dino Crystals activate!" the others cried, doing the same.

The Dinozords roared louder than ever before, radiating with luminous energy and quickening their pace toward the sphinx, who descended to the ground and flapped his wings, blowing torrents of wind at the mechs. Yet, the Dinozords were not deterred, Ash, Tracey and Misty's Zords compacting themselves to form the Dino Tank. Lia's robot perched itself on the back of the tank just as Brock's contorted itself into cannon arms, the Mastodon head forming a chest shield.

King Sphinx growled, assuming his staff and firing beams at the oncoming vehicle, causing it to almost erupt. The Rangers quickly regained control of the Dino Tank, firing three volleys of cannon fire back. Using the power of the crystals, colorful lightning bolts flew from the Zords' eyes and toppled the general.

"Let's send this jerk back to the moon!" Ash said, the others throwing their fists up in agreement. The Dino Tank came to a complete stop as the Rangers prepared for Megazord Battle Mode.

"Megazord sequence has been initiated!" a robotic voice confirmed, the cannons twisting to form hands, the shoulder shields fanning out, and the Mastodon head disappearing. The giant fighting machine quickly rose and the chest flipped down, the Tyrannosarus' head folding down to reveal the horned, robot-like face of the Megazord. The Pterodacyl plummeted onto the front of the Megazord, forming the chest plate.

"Megazord Activated!" the voice proclaimed, lighting striking near the robot's feet, its golden eyes shining bright.

King Sphinx rushed to attack, but his swipes and kicks were swiftly deflected, the Megazord retaliating with backfists and a huge superkick.

"Lightning Plasma!" the Power Rangers yelled, causing electricity to flow from the Megazord's horns and toward the monster.

King Sphinx fell, making the ground rumble, and rolled back. He rose and put his arms up high.

"Let's see how you all deal with my friends!" he challenged. Immediately, a huge cloud of locusts came over from the city and mobbed the Megazord, startling the Rangers and setting off miniature explosions.

"The servos are weakening!" Blue Ranger reported. "We have to lock them down!"

"I'll try to get these things off of us," Red Ranger answered. "Increase the speed!"

"Right!" Yellow Ranger said back, trying to get the job done.

The Megazord swung at the mass of bugs, but to no avail. King Sphinx chuckled and spun his staff.

"You all remember this," he sniggered. "Now you'll have some familiar friends to keep you company when I bury you."

Sand began to creep up the robot, creating a form-fitting case that ensnared it and the locusts, causing everything to spark and short circuit.

"Shields are dropping! And our power supply is fading!" Black Ranger cried, trying to replenish their defenses. "We gotta break free!"

"I guess it's crystal time again! It's all we've got!" Pink Ranger said, coming up with the idea.

"Great idea!" Red Ranger replied. "Everyone focus your Dino Crystal power and let's try to draw some more energy!"

As they concentrated, the mineral tomb that encased the Megazord shrank and shrank, dissolving into the mech itself. Dumbfounded, King Sphinx swung its powder blue paws at the Megazord, dispersing the locusts and leaving no scratch. He jumped back and readied his staff, flinging fire at his opponent, but again, nothing. The Megazord absorbed not only the minerals and sand for durability, but took in the energy blast for more power.

"Power Sword!"

The Megazord's gigantic sliver blade descended from the sky and landed right into its hand, causing the sphinx to take a step back.

"Uh oh..." he uttered. Shrieking, the general lumbered forward for another round, but this time the Power Rangers were ready, bellowing, "Plasma Slash!"

The robot reared back, bolts of lightning infusing the blade with otherworldly strength. As the sky rumbled and lightning crackled, Megazord darted toward King Sphinx, slicing the demon through the chest and ending his evil life in a burst of energy and fire.

Back at the Moon Palace, Rita Repulsa reacted accordingly to her loss.

"You imbeciles!" she screamed, swinging her wand at a terrified Squatt and Baboo. "We had everything and you all failed!"

"What did we do?" Squatt asked in a timid voice.

"Yeah, we didn't know about the Power Weapons or the Dino Crystals..." Baboo added.

"Excuses!" Rita shrieked, smacking both bumbling aliens. She then turned her spindly frame to Goldar and pointed a sharp nail at him. "And you! Your general was useless! He could barely even scratch those children!"

"King Sphinx was obviously too weak to handle the Rangers after thousands of years..." the ape-griffin grumbled, bowing his head.

"And so were you!" his empress shouted, scratching him across the face. She turned and stormed away to the balcony overseeing Earth, her billowing brown gown following her. Goldar looked up, baring his hideous teeth.

"In spite of your bumbling," Rita spoke, twirling her staff. "We must plan our next attack now. In one month, there will be a meteor shower over Feron Grove, and according to our prophecy, we will find the one then."

"Who is 'the one?'" Squatt asked, scratching his bulbous head.

"Who do you think?!" Rita snapped. Somebody obviously more apt to helping me take this planet than you..."

The next day in the school halls, the wild events of the last few days proved to be great conversation material again.

"I can't believe the Power Rangers got to us in time! I thought I was a goner!"

"I'm just happy all of those bugs are gone!"

"I wonder who these guys really are..."

The five heroes smiled as they walked the halls, glad to see everything peaceful again.

"You hear that noise?" Brock asked, putting a hand to his ear.

"What noise?" Tracey inquired.

"Exactly."

Misty laughed as they went over to their

lockers. "Yeah. I'm sure glad we got over our fears and got rid of those terrible singers."

"And we got the Dino Crystals back," Lia added, putting _Amalei's Hidden Treasures _away. "I'm never going to give up on one of these leads, no matter what anyone says, even myself."

"Same here," Ash said, opening his and taking out his workout bag. "Those two and King Sphinx were tough, but we kept going and really focused in the moment and kept cool."

"Did I hear something about keeping cool?" a voice asked. The group turned to see Hayashi coming up to them, his gear bag over his shoulder. "That sounds like a plan."

"Hey, Hayashi," Lia said. "We all ready to go?"

"Yep," her brother said. "You're picking a good time to come to practice. Today is Flying Kick Day."

"Sounds awesome," Brock affirmed, hitting Ash on the shoulder. "I've been working with Ash on his. Ready?"

"Yeah. All loose and ready," his friend said. The others raised their eyebrows as the two got into raised stances, then torqued back, leapt into the air to spin kick, and collided right into each other, falling to the ground.

"Great technique," Hayashi stuttered, trying to stop laughing like the others. "Really focused, but..."

"Always be aware of the second essence of martial arts," Lia interjected, suppressing giggles. "Always have plenty of space, and you won't knock your friend into outer space."

Ash and Brock looked at each other, and they couldn't help but laugh as well.

**NEXT TIME ON POWER RANGERS**

The teens enjoy fun in the sun during a school trip to the beach, anticipating the arrival of the centennial meteor shower. Rita is looking to celebrate the occasion as well, and sends down the many-tentacled menace Vitreous to celebrate. Can our heroes find an antidote for this poisonous sea dweller, and what does Rita's prophecy foretell? Find out next time on _Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!_


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